The Darkness
by Kinoma-chan
Summary: Hiei, Kurama looked up to Hiei's eyes, you're pregnant. Want to know what it's about? You'll just have to read it. R&R Finished!
1. Terrifying Discoveries

The Darkness

Chapter 1: Terrifying Discoveries

It was dark.

Not just the dark of dusk, or of a room with no lights. No, this was pure dark. The pitch black dark where a creature, man, woman, demon, etc., would go crazy. Crazy for a light, any light, that would shine through this complete darkness.

Hiei looked around, wondering where this strange place could be. He was not happy, not at home. He wished for some sort of light that would shine, some gift that would make this pain go away. None came.

Suddenly, a voice, a familiar voice, sounded from behind him. He turned around, thinking of uncovering his third eye. This darkness seemed to remind him of his life after he was thrown out by his tribe. The voice called out to him again, "Heh, heh..." It seemed to be laughing at him. The voice was prying his secrets, his past out of him.

An arm wrapped around his throat, not in a squeeze, but in a friendly hug. It reached across his chest and his friend's voice whispered in his ear. "Hello, dearest Hiei. Glad to see your Kurama here with you?" Hiei stood stock still, not believing that this was his friend.

"Who are you?" Hiei whispered back in a low growl; the pure darkness seemed to require no sound.

Kurama whispered into Hiei's ear again, this time with a mocking, malicious tone. "I know what you want Hiei. I know everything about you. You've led quite the dirty life, haven't you?" Kurama's voice lowered so that it was barely audible, even to Hiei. "I know what you _lust_ for." Kurama dissipated into the thick darkness around Hiei, chuckling softly. "You've been a bad, bad boy, Hiei. Why don't you be true to yourself?" The voice echoed around him, drove into his mind, into his very soul.

"So, let me give it to you." Hiei suddenly felt the touch of soft hands and a body at his waist. Kurama was reaching up his shirt, touching, feeling Hiei's muscled chest. Hiei whimpered.

"You're not Kurama. My friend, he... he does not act like you do." Hiei spurted out, quite unlike himself.

"Tsk, tsk. Hiei, don't you know the touch of your _friend_? I sure do feel like this, and I certainly _lust_ for this." Kurama said mockingly. Hiei could not see himself, but he felt his clothes being pulled off. "Hee, hee! Just as I had imagined." Kurama laughed.

Hiei could not believe that this was happening; where was he? This most certainly was not his friend, Kurama, who had always been with him. Hiei spat into the blank space in front of him, and attempted to unravel himself from Kurama's grasp. Kurama disappeared as Hiei did this, and the laughter of his voice once more echoed around the darkness.

"My dearest Hiei, would you like to see your sister? Would you like to tell her, show her that you _are_ her _brother_? She's waiting for you, you know. She's sitting in her room, waiting for news of her long lost oniisan." The heart-tearing laughter rang out again and Hiei screamed,

"Where's Yukina! What have you done with her? Tell me, or I will slaughter you!" Hiei could not stand this anymore. Who? Where? _What_ was this creature that was impersonating his friend? "Who are you?"

"Tsk tsk. Losing your temper, are we? Your sister is fine, do not worry," His friend's face appeared at the side of his head again, "_My _Hiei." Kurama kissed Hiei's neck three times then disappeared.

"Let's play, shall we, Hiei? How about... Yukina hunting?" Kurama's evil chuckling could be heard all around Hiei, it was driving him insane.

"Leave my sister alone!" Hiei was angry now, he reached down to grab his sword from its sheath, but found that it was not there. He then remembered how this Kurama had taken off his clothes; he bent down and felt around for them. They were no where to be found.

An instant later, Hiei felt his fake friend touching him again. Kurama was caressing his skin. Hiei shivered with rage and jabbed his elbow back, in an attempt to hurt his foe. He missed, but yelled, "Get the hell away from me! I'll kill you!"

"Oh, dearest Hiei, you can't hurt me. But why won't you let us mingle? Would you rather I was my youko form? Hmm?" Hiei heard movement and saw the true form of Kurama standing behind him. "Heh, do you like me better this way, _dearest_ Hiei? You always said you hated my human form." This illusion was smart. He _did_ know _everything_ about Hiei and Kurama's relationship together. Every little detail, fact, etc., this creature seemed to possess. Once more, this time more demanding, Hiei seethed,

"Who are you!"

Youko Kurama rested his head lightly on Hiei's shoulder and uttered three words: "Your _worst_ nightmare." And it was gone.

"Hiei!" Someone's voice echoed in the back of Hiei's head.

"Hiei! Come on, Hiei! Wake up!" The voice grew louder. Hiei's eyes felt heavy, all his limbs felt heavy, _he_ felt heavy.

"Hiei! Wake up!" The voice commanded again, and Hiei felt someone hit him. Hiei's natural reflexes kicked into gear and he leaped up, reaching for his sword, and knocking into something in front of him. He opened his eyes, and saw Kurama's green eyes, filled with deep worry for his friend, staring at him.

Hiei took in his surroundings. He was in a white room with a lot of wires and machines. He was sitting on a small white cot, and his friend, Yukina, and the rest of the Urameshi team were all staring at him from small placemats on the ground.

His sister, Yukina, immediately rushed over and, despite Hiei's growls of anger, hugged Hiei in a tight bear hug. "Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh! I'm so glad you're okay, 'niisan! I was _so_ worried. 'Nissan, don't _ever_ do that again! I'll never forgive you if you kill yourself." Yukina was finally pulled away from Hiei by the ferry girl, Botan, who smiled politely at Hiei and said,

"I'm glad to see you better, Hiei-san." Gradually, every one in the room slowly got up and gave Hiei a hug, or a handshake, and, in the case of Kuwabara, a small nod of approval.

Everyone slowly left until it was just Hiei and Kurama. Hiei rubbed his head and sighed. He turned to his friend, who was still looking at him with worried eyes, and grunted, "What the hell happened? What am I doing in a ningen hospital? And stop the pity eyes, I'm frickin fine!"

Kurama looked away from Hiei and shivered slightly. "I don't know how to say this."

"Well, just get it out!" Hiei demanded.

"You—you just suddenly fainted while we were fighting a youkai, and we couldn't figure out what was wrong with you. Unfortunately, the nearest hospital was a ningen one, so we had to bring you here. Hiei--," Kurama looked away from Hiei again, gulped, and then looked back at him. "Hiei, you're pregnant."


	2. Unbelieving

Author's Note/disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters. Although Kurama is tempting…

Chapter 2: Unbelieving

Hiei's brain locked. This was definitely NOT the answer he had been looking for. It was beyond anything Hiei would even _dream_ of.

He saw his friend reach toward him, ready to lock Hiei up in a ball of comfort. Hiei shifted gears from shock to anger. He swiftly gathered his usual confidence back and pushed Kurama away from him, knocking the kitsune into the wall across from the bed. Kurama's head banged against the wall and fell limply on his shoulder as he sat, unconscious against the wall.

Hiei searched the room thoroughly, and found what he needed within a couple of seconds: his usual outfit. He ripped the ningen medical tools that were hanging from his body off, and quickly clothed himself; taking his katana from Kurama's side and tying his headband around his third eye.

With out a look back from his perch on the window sill, Hiei jumped the four floors to the ground and quickly disappeared into the coming night.

It took a full twenty minutes for Kurama to come to. He slowly lifted his eyelids to find himself staring into huge, round spectacles that were balanced on a thick nose. The owner of this nose was staring at him and gave a sigh of relief when he opened his eyes.

"Thank God." She said, putting a hand to her heart. "Who attacked you, son?" She inquired, looking a little bit more serious than relieved now.

Kurama's mind flashed back to the incident with Hiei not too long ago. He remembered giving the news to him, and then Hiei throwing him against the wall. But he knew better then to tell the ningen nurse what had really happened, so he came up with a quick lie. He only hoped that the nurse would take it. "I tripped backwards and hit my head against the wall pretty hard." He paused and looked to the hospital bed, to, unsurprisingly, find it empty. He put a confused look on his face, though, and questioned the nurse, "Where did he go, Nurse?" Kurama nodded his head at the place where Hiei had lied only a little while ago.

The nurse's mouth formed a frown, and she lowered her head, shaking it slowly. "We're not entirely sure, son. I came in about ten minutes ago, to refill the patient's IV. Well, when I came in, you were lying on the floor, limp and unconscious, and the patient was gone. Did you see anything before you passed out, son?"

Kurama shook his head slowly. He knew _exactly_ where Hiei was, and why the window was open, and why he was no longer in his bed. But Kurama knew that there was no way he could ever tell this ningen the truth; it would be too unbelievable for her.

The kitsune gathered his remaining strength and stood up. The nurse steadied him and helped him to sit in a chair. Kurama sat thinking for a few minutes and then turned his head to the nurse, a small smile playing around his face. He stood up and motioned for the nurse to follow him. He was going to get out of here, but definitely not in the same suite Hiei had decided to. He led the nurse into the hall and excused her politely, telling her that since there was no longer a patient, he would pay the bill and get out of the way. He approached the front desk, paid the bill and with small look behind him, exited the front doors.

Hiei sat in his usual spot in the royal garden at the Reikai Palace. His mind was racing. How could _he_ be _pregnant_? Wasn't that the stupid kitsune's job? He was the more female of the two, even if they _were_ both demons. He decided that Kurama was lying to him, and that Hiei had just somehow been beaten. But he had no scars, no cuts or bruises, no nothing. And why would Kurama joke about something so serious to his best friend. Kurama sometimes would kid around with Hiei, but never with something so serious.

Suddenly, Hiei heard a soft crunching of leaves under someone's foot and turned his attention to the sound; all other thoughts immediately wiped out of his head. Someone was headed right towards Hiei's hiding spot, and they were either there for a purpose, or just some servant taking a stroll through the forest.

The person who came out through the foliage was someone who wasn't exactly on Hiei's "Good List." It was his red headed, red clothed friend, Kurama. Obviously he had gotten away from the ningen hospital and had come looking for Hiei. They had known each other for so long, Kurama automatically knew where to look for Hiei if he ever went missing.

Hiei climbed a bit farther up his tree, trying to hide amongst the leafy branches. Kurama, unfortunately, saw right through his plan and called up to Hiei's tree. "Come down Hiei, we need to talk. You have to promise not to get too angry, though." A sad smile drifted across the kitsune's face for a second before fading away.

Hiei thought about running away. It would be only too easy for him; but what was the point? Kurama knew every hiding place of Hiei's and would track him down quickly, once again. So, with a fixed expression upon his face, Hiei lept lightly from his hiding place and landed with a soft _thud_ on the ground next to Kurama. "What is it that we need to talk about, fox?" Hiei demanded.

"Sit." Kurama motioned towards a small, wooden bench about five yards from where he and Hiei stood. Hiei settled down onto the bench in a slight crouch. Kurama sat down slowly, trying not to ruffle his clothes. "Now," Kurama said quietly, smoothing the folds of his kimono, "to get down to the business at hand."

Hello. Welcome to the second chapter o The Darkness. I hope you enjoyed it and are looking forward to the next one. -Kinoma


	3. A Talk Between Friends

Disclaimer: I…do…not… own Yu Yu Hakusho. Okay, I said it. 

Chapter 3: A Talk between Friends

Kurama faced his friend with a soft gaze upon his face. He knew this would be hard for him to understand. It was even hard for him to understand. But Hiei had the right to know; the most right out of anyone.

"Hiei, what I am about to tell you will probably shock you even more than what I told you in the hospital wing. This would be because I am about to tell you _why_ it is that you are pregnant. It started about three and a half weeks ago." Kurama reached for Hiei's hand, and, when Hiei did not jerk it away, took it in his own in a comforting grip. Somehow, Kurama had impressed upon Hiei the importance of the subject and Kurama's own feelings on the matter with just his first few sentences.

"Do you remember the party that was held in Urameshi's room in the Reikai Palace?" When Hiei nodded, Kurama continued, "Well, we somehow managed to get you drunk through a bet. After about ten cups of saki, you were completely intoxicated." Kurama stared down at the soft grass covering their feet. He seemed to be having trouble getting what he wanted to say out. "Well—you see, I—I was drunk too. A-and I ended up leading you to your room. There, only out of foolishness and lust, we—we had sex." Kurama continued to stare down at the ground, refusing to look Hiei in the eye; Hiei's hand slipped out of Kurama's, and he backed slowly off the bench, a shocked expression painted on his face.

"Wh-Why?" Hiei asked.

"Well, see, we were both drunk and—and it just kind of… happened." Kurama looked at Hiei's retreating figure pleadingly. "Please don't be angry." He begged.

"Why not!" Hiei yelled, surprising even himself. "Why shouldn't I be angry? Am I supposed to be _happy_ that you got _me_ pregnant? What am I supposed to do?" Next, something happened that Hiei had not intended to ever do again, not since he had been forced out of his tribe so many years ago: he cried. It started off with just some moisture in his eyes. But eventually the tears ran in swift flowing streams down his hot cheeks. "Why?" He said once again, and then fell to his knees, covering his face with his hands.

Kurama saw his chance and ceased it. He walked slowly and cautiously over to wear Hiei kneeled. When Hiei did not make a move to run away, Kurama gently knelt down beside him and put his arm around Hiei's shoulder, feeling the youkai flinch slightly under his touch.

"Hiei, I am truly very sorry. I never meant for it to happen. Even if it did, I had always thought that I would be the one to bear the child. But it cannot be changed, and wishing it had not happened will not help." Kurama sighed and continued what he wanted to say in a soft, soothing voice. "I want you to know, Hiei, I want you to know that I do love you." Hiei flinched again, this time more violently. Kurama made a quick decision and voiced it. "If you want, after the child is born, I will take it off your hands. You will never have to deal with it and I will take care of it."

Hiei remained silent, tears still streaming down his face.

So many thoughts raced through Hiei's head. _Why was I the one chosen to bear the child? Why was it not the fox? Why the hell did there even _have_ to _be_ a child? I do not get anything that has happened. Maybe,_ he thought quietly, _maybe this is all just a dream and I will awake to find that I am in my tree, comfortable and no... pregnant. _He said the last word with such loathe that he could feel his chest tighten in anger.

Suddenly, a bright, yellow light poked his eyelids harshly, and Hiei jerked awake.

He found himself in a vast chamber. A large, two-paneled window stared back at him; the sun poked its yellow face in through the window. He was lying on a soft mattress, a silky white sheet wrapped snugly around his body.

He shifted his view to his right and saw his friend's sleeping face next to him. He jumped. He had not expected to see Kurama in the same bed as him. Next thing Hiei knew, he was panicking. He quickly checked to make sure he was clothed. When he found that he was, Hiei rolled out of the sheets and planted himself firmly on the floor. He leapt to the windowsill of the tall glass, and perched upon it, staring out the window and thinking angrily about his and Kurama's talk the night before. It was not an enjoyable one, that was for sure. He wished to run away, perhaps back to the human world, but knew only too well that, whatever he did, Kurama would follow. And if it really was true that he, Hiei, was indeed pregnant, he knew he would not be able to deal with the child. _I wonder how Kurama would take care of it. _ The thought suddenly popped into his head, and, instead of deserting the subject, he dove into it. He found that thinking of the fox taking care of the child made him feel better, and more as if the child would never be born from him. _Kurama would probably give the child to his ningen mother, letting her take care of it as if it was hers. I could forget I had ever had it, and it would be gone from my life. Only if…_ He thought desperately.

Light filled Kurama's eyes as he quickly flicked them open. His vision blurred for a few seconds then adjusted to the bright morning sunshine. His mind immediately raced to the passing of the day before, and he jerked to his left, knowing, but hoping he wouldn't, what he would find.

The place next to him was empty.

He started to panic, even though he knew that he would find it empty. His eyes flicked to the vast window sill, where he saw Hiei perched lazily, his eyes glazed over. Kurama slowly rose from his place on the bed, careful not to stir Hiei from his thoughts. He walked quietly over to wear Hiei sat, and wrapped an arm around the small youkai's shoulders. Hiei jumped under Kurama's arm, automatically grabbing his sword, but Kurama put a gentle hand upon Hiei's and calmed him down.

Hiei stared up at his friend, not really comprehending that Kurama was there, he was too overlapped in his own vivid thoughts. Kurama took this chance to lead Hiei back to the bed and make him lie down, covering him to the waist with the sheets.

"Go back to sleep." Kurama whispered softly into Hiei's ear. "You need the rest; you hardly slept any last night." Hiei's eyes closed at Kurama's words and his breathing leveled out, obvious signs that he was now fast asleep. Kurama put a soft kiss on his forehead, shut the curtains to the vast window, and quietly left the room, wishing his friend a good night's sleep.

Outside of the room, Kurama rushed to the field where the Urameshi team met to train. Yuusuke sat on the ground, breaking small rocks with the tips of his fingers.

When Kurama approached him, Yusuke looked up and said in a calm voice, "What's up Kurama?" When Kurama did not reply after a while, Yusuke persisted. "Why you looking so sad?"

"It is nothing of importance, Yusuke. Do not worry yourself over it." Kurama leapt upon a small jungle gym and started to practice playing with his rosewhip. The elegant vine cut through the metal of the jungle gym easily, and eventually Kurama was forced to step back to the ground as the final stature of the thing was destroyed.

This being completely out of Kurama's character, Yusuke's interest peaked. He questioned gently, as if not to anger his prey. "Does it have to do with Hiei being pregnant?" An egotistical smile played across his face, he knew that he was right, even when no reply came from the fox demon's mouth. "What? Is he _still_ refusing to believe it's true?"

Kurama nodded his head just barely. He voiced his opinion in a small voice, "He's only had thirty-two hours to deal with this fact; it would be nice if you gave him a break. Unlike you, we demons can have children no matter _what_ sex we happen to be." He lowered his voice down again, so that it was just barely audible. "It just happened to have to be Hiei. _Why_ did it have to be _Hiei_? _Why_?" He raised his rose whip once again and exposed a gigantic crater in the ground about twenty feet away to his right. He felt the anger and frustration rising in his throat, but kept it down; it would not be in his favor to expose his feelings in front of Yusuke, even if he was a friend.

Yusuke's smirk was wiped off his face. He had not expected something like this to bug Kurama so much. He gently put a comforting hand upon Kurama's shoulder and said to him, "Hey. Don't be so hard on yourself. You couldn't control it." Kurama turned his head and gave a sorrowful look to Yusuke that burned through his heart. In two leaps, Kurama disappeared into the surrounding forest shrubbery.

Yay! New chapter, new chapter! You know, the plot for this story is really hard to work out. You should all bow down to me and say how awesome and kind I am for even writing a second chapter, cus, you know: I was only planning on writing one chapter. Anyway, enjoy this new one, and I will try to start writing the fourth one. Adios, Kinoma


	4. Reparations

Author's Note: From this chapter on, this applies: I do not own and of the characters or plot of Yu Yu Hakusho, this is the property of Yoshihiro Togashi-sensei. Thank you.

The Darkness

Chapter 4: Reparations

Hiei awoke from deep slumber. It was now night time and he lay in the bed all alone. He suddenly yearned for Kurama's presence. Hiei wondered where the baka kitsune could be right now.

"I'll go search for him." Hiei muttered to himself, getting up out of the sheets and dressing himself back into his usual outfit. He finished attaching his belt and katana to his waist and finally exited the room: the normal way.

In the hall, he found a very dazed Yusuke. Hiei, wanting to know if Yusuke had seen the kitsune, asked Yusuke if he was all right.

Yusuke responded by saying, "Yeah, sorry about that. Just had a really strange talk with Kurama-kun." Yusuke glanced at Hiei to see what kind of an effect this would have on Hiei; when he saw none, he continued, "Listen, Hiei-san: are you seriously okay? Kurama seemed really frustrated about your… er, positon." Yusuke finished lamely.

Hiei's face softened a little at the last sentence. He did not want Yusuke to see this, however, so he hid it quickly and answered back, "Yeah, I'm fine. Do you know which way the baka kitsune went? I need to have a talk with him…" To add to his tone, Hiei gently pet his katana. Yusuke's eyes and expression told Hiei that he had accomplished his goal.

"Uh, yeah, he—he headed off towards the human world, I think. You might want to check his mother's house.

"Thank you." Hiei said and was gone in a small gust of wind.

"Wow," Yusuke said to himself after the youkai had left, "Hiei really is in a pissy mood. Gotta remember that…" he ambled off back towards the kitchen, hoping he could maybe steal a bite to eat and go to bed.

Hiei was at the gate to the human world within one minute after he had talked to Yusuke. The gate keeper halted him and asked for his name, race, and reason for entering the human world. Hiei simply replied, "Move, I do not wish to shed your blood."

The gatekeeper being new, and not having to have to deal with angry, frustrated little youkais, simply complied, and allowed the fire youkai to pass through the gate.

In Ningenkai, Hiei automatically made his way towards the Minamino house. There, he let himself into Shuichi's room, making the utmost assurance that he would not make a single sound.

Inside of the room, Hiei quickly looked about and did not see his friend in the room; he did, however, hear voices downstairs, and one that sounded and awful lot like the kitsune Kurama.

With one hand on the door, another on his katana, Hiei swiftly made his way out of the ningen room and down the stairs.

Resting on the bottom stair, he could hear Shuichi's mother speaking to her son and new husband.

"Please, Shuichi. Tell us where you have been. You disappear for two months at a time and don't tell us where you are going. How are you going to make up all the school time you are missing? What about your dreams of attending college?"

Hiei grumbled: he hated listening to ningen women bicker.

"I am sorry, Mother. If I told you where I was going when I disappear, or what I am, it would break your heart." Kurama's voice floated through the room.

"What do you mean, son?" Shuichi's stepfather replied.

"Nothing, Father, nothing." A large sigh came from Shuichi's throat. "And as for school, I am doing very well, despite my absences. I have already completely made up for all the time I have missed. I promise that I will not miss anymore. I will graduate and go to Oxford. May I please be excused now, Mother?"

Footsteps could be heard walking towards the stairs as Kurama started walking back to his room after a nod of approval from his mother. "I'm sorry, Mother." He said, almost inaudible. He made his way up the staircase, brooding.

As he entered his room, a voice entered through his brain. "This is not like you, Kurama." Kurama immediately pulled out a rose from behind his ear and quickly turned it into a rose whip. "What do you want? Show yourself!" He peered about the room, searching for the intruder.

From behind him this time, the voice spoke again, "You can put that away, it is just me, Kurama." Kurama turned around to find his short friend staring at him.

"You know," Hiei said, "If I'm going to birth this child, I will have to buy some new shirts. I'll have the clothing designer in Reikai make some for me." Hiei looked at his shirt, which he was feeling with his left hand.

Kurama let his rose whip return to a regular rose. A large sigh escaped his mouth. "Hiei…" Kurama motioned for Hiei to sit on the neatly made bed. Hiei obliged, but only because Kurama had such a serious look on his face that Hiei felt compelled to follow his orders.

Kurama came up very close to Hiei, so that their noses were only about an inch apart from each other. Hiei flinched, but did not move away. Kurama's green eyes seemed to draw him in to a never ending whirlpool of emotion.

"What?" Hiei finally managed to spit out. He didn't like the silence that had rested around them.

Kurama smiled slyly. "I'll make sure that the clothes designer makes especially good clothes for you, Hiei." Hiei could feel the heat from Kurama's breath on his face.

"What are you talking about, stupid fox?" Hiei grumbled.

Kurama moved in for the kill, grasping Hiei with both of his arms in a tight hug and letting their lips touch in a soft kiss. Hiei squirmed. He did not want this.

"Let go!" He yelled. Kurama ignored this and continued to kiss him.

"Is it wrong for me to show affection to the one I love?" Kurama said, finally releasing his grip on Hiei.

"I'll let you know. Good bye." Hiei disappeared without another word.

Kurama sighed. "Well, that went well." There was a knock at the door and he heard his stepfather call out to him,

"Kurama-san, did you just yell? What's the matter?" Kurama moved towards his door, opening it slowly.

"I am sorry, Father. I was trying to fall asleep when an owl suddenly screeched. It scared me so much that I yelled. Please, go back to sleep; I am fine." Kurama gave a small, reassuring smile to his stepfather and watched as the old man made his way back to his and Kurama's human mother's room. "Good night, ningen." Kurama whispered, reentering his room and resting his head on his pillow. Finally, after many hours of restless thoughts, sleep enfolded its dark arms about the corners of his mind.

Wow! O.o Four chapter up already on the fanfic that was only supposed to be one chapter. That reminds me: I need to go and fix the first chapter. I'll go do that after I get this up… Anyway, enjoy this chapter; I put a lot of thought and time into it, even if it is only about 2 and ½ pages. Heh… -Kinoma


	5. Beginnings

Author's Note/disclaimer: Kinoma- I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters, plot, etc. Please keep this in mind as I will not say this again because it is tiresome.

Hiei- Lazy little crybaby…

Kinoma- (throws a few of her water balls at him) Shut up, baka. At least _I_ wasn't shunned by my clan. (Sticks her tongue out) Neh…

Hiei- …

The Darkness

Chapter 5: Beginnings

Two months passed by quickly and Hiei was already halfway through the pregnancy cycle. It was decided by Koenma and Enma that Hiei would be relieved from his place on the Spirit Detectives team. It was also decided (by Kurama and Hiei) that Kurama would give Hiei space and not bug him until the birth of the child. However, this was in no way easy for the tired and weary Kurama. (And, Hiei, though he would never tell anyone, secretly wished for the kitsune's presence beside him)

Botan was doing her daily ferry-girl rounds. After she was done, she had to go give the Urameshi Team its newest mission.

While she was busy ferrying the souls of the dead to their appropriate places, her thoughts wandered around. _I wonder how Hiei-san is doing. Yusuke-san said that he hadn't seen the youkai at all since two months ago in the Reikai palace._ She stopped in front of the Gates to Heaven. "This is your stop, ma'am, have a happy after life." Botan smiled courteously and made sure that the soul of the old American lady made her way safely to the Gates, where the Angels would take care of her.

_I wonder what Hiei-san will do with the child. He is probably not aware that it will be his responsibility when it is born. _Back to the Reikai Palace Botan flew, ready to receive her orders from Koenma. _How will the child affect the Team?_ The thought made her stop in mid air. She hadn't thought of that before. "Uh oh…" she whispered. "I'll have to bring it up to Koenma-sama's attention." Botan continued on her way towards the Palace.

There, she entered her boss's room in which he was stamping document after document with his large approval stamp. George, the large oni, was handing Koenma document after document while Koenma stamped them. Botan knocked quietly on the door and said, "Ano, Koenma-sama?" Koenma looked up at the sound of Botan's voice, finishing a stamp on one piece of paper.

"Oh! Hello, Botan. I have Yusuke's next mission. Let me finish this pile and I'll give you the low-down." Koenma diligently completed the pile within ten minutes whilst Botan sat quietly on a nearby couch.

After he was finished, Koenma pushed back from his still ridiculously covered in papers desk and walked over to Botan. "Now, Botan, I will tell you the group's next task…" Botan listened eagerly as Koenma told her of the task.

An arguing Yusuke and Kuwabara could be seen walking home from school one day. Kuwabara wanted to go play a new video game at the arcade, but Yusuke was telling them that they needed to go to Reikai. Kuwabara was not happy about this. He did not want to go off on another fighting mission. He and Yukina had just hit it off, and they were going to go on a date that Sunday.

"Come on, Urameshi; let's go play the new game!" Kuwabara used his last card. "Unless… Unless you're afraid I'll beatcha!" Kuwabara looked slyly over at Yusuke, seeing that this had stopped Yusuke dead in his tracks.

Yusuke never turned down a challenge, especially from wimps such as Kuwabara. He sighed, turned around with his hands curled into fists, and replied, "All right, Kuwabaka, you're on." They ran at top speed towards the arcade.

Kurama was still in school. He stared blankly at the window, not really thinking of anything, just in a daze. He was not very happy right now. He wished so very badly to see the bearer of his child. Hiei just could not understand sentimentality. And, until he became a human, neither could Kurama.

"Minamino-san." A girl's voice echoed in the back of his head; he continued to stare off into space. "Minamino-san." The girl's voice repeated itself. Kurama came out of his stupor and jumped slightly. He turned his head towards the girl that had called his name.

"Yes, Hitaka-san?" Kurama said, quietly.

"Would you please help me with this problem? I do not understand it." Hitaka smiled; she really thought Kurama was hot.

"Of—of course, Hitaka-san." Kurama leaned over to Hitaka's desk and started showing her how to solve the math problem. He could smell the faint smell of roses from her body, and hear her tender human heart beating quickly. He smiled, reminiscing about something.

Hitaka's heart was beating fast. Kurama Minamino was helping her! Her! The bishounen of the school was being kind to her and helping her with her math homework. She could not have been in a happier place. She breathed in the smell of Kurama's body and smiled shyly. He smelled so wonderful!

"And this is added to this, causing it to equal this…" Kurama's voice whispered softly; Hitaka could hardly hear it over her beating heart.

Hiei sat, perched upon a tree in the courtyard of the kitsune's school. He watched quietly as the children passed by the window of the hallway he was peering into. Every time one would appear at one edge of the window his heart would leap, expecting it to be Kurama. When it turned out to be a regular ningen, walking past in the school's uniform, idly talking to their friend(s), he would sigh. And when anther student's form began to appear: this process repeated itself, despite Hiei's resistance to it.

For some reason, unknown to the fire youkai, the need to see the kitsune was urgent. _Why do I not just abduct him from his class and take him away?_ A small voice in the back of his head questioned him eagerly. Another responded. _I do not wish to make a scene that would cause my friend trouble in the future. _And yet another voice made another comment:_ I shall wait until this school of his is over and then I shall steal him away for an hour. _The voice of the second opinion said: _Won't his mother worry about his whereabouts?_ And the third voice responded: _We shall have him call his ningen mother, telling her that he will be out for awhile, for…shopping, we shall make him say._

The two other voices quieted down. The third reigned supreme and reasonable. And, so for the next 4 hours, Hiei diligently waited for the final bell to ring and his friend's appearance outside of the school of ningens.

Kurama walked through a hallway leading to his homeroom. He had been instructed by his sensei to run an errand and was returning from completing it. On a whim, he casually looked out the window that looked out on to the campus from the hallway. He saw a black figure fall from the tree as he looked up. Wondering what the thing could be, Kurama walked towards the window to investigate. Upon nearing the window, he saw his friend, Hiei; stand up quickly from his place on the ground. Kurama's eyes widened. _What's Hiei doing here?_ He thought avidly.

Kurama quickly fumbled over the lock to the window. After about ten seconds of cussing silently under his breath, and his sweaty hands running over the lock, Kurama finally managed to open it and pushed the window open. He called out to the youkai.

"Hiei!" Kurama said urgently. Hiei leapt away from Kurama without answering the kitsune's call. Kurama sighed. It was pointless right now to chase after the fire youkai. He needed to pay attention to his studies; that was his top priority as of right now. _I wonder if that fall affected the child at all._ The thought suddenly popped into Kurama's head. _It probably did not. Hiei would not be stupid enough to actually fall on his butt, would he?_ Kurama slowly made his way back to class.

The school bell rang. A red-headed figure could be seen hurrying towards a remote location in an alley. A yellow oni approached the red-headed figure, questioning it, making it answer to him. The kitsune calmly gave his response, and, in the next ten seconds, could be seen entering a portal to another world that had been made in midair.

"I'm glad you're here, Kurama-kun. Yusuke-san and Kuwabara-san were _supposed_ to be here two hours ago, but, according to George-san, they're playing _Two Guns_ at the local arcade on Ningenkai. I'll go get them later." Botan was walking down a vast hallway of the Reikai Imperial Palace with the red-headed kitsune, Kurama. "I just wish those two would pay more attention to their assignments instead of fooling around." Botan sighed heavily. "I guess old habits really _do_ die hard."

A small snicker came out of the kitsune's mouth, not audible to the ferry girl's ears. The news of his friends had somehow relieved some of the tension that had been building up in Kurama's chest for the past few months. He took a deep, relaxing breath, and continued to follow the soul-deliver.

"May I ask where you are leading me?" Kurama asked politely, the question finally voicing itself.

"Oh!" Botan jumped. "Oh, of course! I'm sorry, Kurama-kun, I should have told you in the first place!" Botan bowed in apology. "We are headed to a waiting room on the third floor. Hiei-san is already there, I believe." Botan smiled at Kurama, thinking this would cheer the kitsune up a bit. However, from the look in Kurama's eyes, Botan managed to see that it had just the opposite affect.

Kurama sighed. "Oh, really?" He tried to sound as if nothing was wrong: he failed miserably.

Botan nodded, then continued to walk, thinking it best not to get into the affairs of the two youkais.

Finally, after ten minutes, the two persons arrived in front of a large wooden door. A brass plate was bolted in at about eye level; it read: _Visitor's Room-An assistant will be with you shortly, please wait._ Botan opened the door for Kurama and let him in. "I'm going to go obtain our boys. I'll be back shortly." In a whirl of wind, she was gone.

Kurama turned back into the room. He saw Hiei perched silently on the windowsill, staring quietly at him. Kurama did his best to smile timidly and said,

"Good evening, Hiei. How are you?"

Hey, this chapter took a little bit longer than the last two for me to get up. Lately, I've been on Gaia a lot and haven't had a lot of time to write up my stories. Gaia is just too damn addictive… (sweatdrop) Anyway, thanks to everyone for sending in reviews. It helps. Oh, and all of you who have told me to read your stories: I will, when I get a chance… Enjoy this chapter. Expect the next one in awhile, I have to get down the plot for it first. Ja, Kinoma


	6. A Mission

Author's Note/disclaimer: For the disclaimer, refer to the previous chapter.

Kinoma: Beware; this chapter contains some…not good for little children stuff. I am going to keep the rating at PG-13, however, because I do not think the content is bad enough for me to raise it to R.

Kurama: Why is it considered bad?

Kinoma: That's for me to know, and for you to find out.

The Darkness

Chapter 6: A Mission

Kurama and Hiei sat next to each other in the waiting room. A scratchy elevator song broke the dead silence between them. Kurama couldn't stand it; Hiei was focusing on making sure that the fox demon did not come near him.

It was useless, as Hiei soon figured out.

First, Kurama inched ever so nearer to Hiei, until, when he reached out; he could easily reach the youkai's hand. They sat there like that, for awhile: Kurama's soft hand encompassing Hiei's rough one. Hiei did not twitch, or try to escape Kurama's grasp; instead, he could feel his muscles, his whole body, suddenly relaxing under the kitsune's grip.

Next, Kurama leaned in, and with the utmost care, started kissing Hiei's neck tenderly, working his way slowly towards Hiei's mouth. Hiei flinched a little at this, but calmed down once again. _Am I enjoying this?_ The thought came to him suddenly. _Yes, I am…_ said a small voice inside of him. It took reign over him.

Then, Hiei could feel Kurama's hand slide into his pants. At the touch of Kurama's hand near _that_ spot, Hiei jumped up, saying, "No! Not there!"

Kurama, however, was not paying attention to Hiei. His eyes were wide with shock, and…was that…realization? _He knows now._ Hiei thought. _He knows the reason why I am the one who got pregnant._ Hiei did something next that was quite unlike him: he walked up to Kurama, and this time, _he_ was the one who started the kissing. Kurama's eyes widened a little bit more, but they soon shut in full enjoyment from the kiss he was now receiving.

Finally, they laid down upon the sofa. Kurama was just about to lean over Hiei's large belly to kiss him, when a talking Botan opened the door, Yusuke and Kuwabara behind her. She turned her head inside, saw Kurama and Hiei frozen in that position, their heads facing her, gasped, and shut the door again before the two miscreants behind her could see what Kurama and Hiei were doing.

"Sorry, wrong door." She said shakily, trying to cover up for Kurama and Hiei.

"What is it, Botan? You don't look so good. Who's in the room?" Yusuke asked, play shoving her to the side and opening the door.

"No!" Botan shouted, trying to block Yusuke and Kazuma from seeing into the room. Her efforts, she realized, were in vain. Yusuke and Kuwabara had seen Kurama and Hiei. Their eyes popped open. Botan sighed and muttered, "I'm sorry, Kurama-kun and Hiei-san."

The two members of the Urameshi Team who had just barged into the room burst out laughing. Kurama and Hiei somehow took this as a cue to get out of their current position and into a more…respectable one.

"You…should have…paid attention to your…whereabouts…before you…started makin' out." Kuwabara gusted out between breaths. He and Yusuke were on their knees, banging their fists against the ground. Botan just stood there, trying her hardest to keep a straight face. Kurama and Hiei fidgeted their face more red than an apple.

Hiei started to growl and put his hand over his katana handle, preparing to kill the three intruders. Kurama put his hand over Hiei's arm and said, "No. Not this time, Hiei." Hiei relaxed again under Kurama's touch. His grip on his katana laxed and he felt himself being held in an embrace by his partner.

"Is it wrong for me to make love to the person that I love?" Kurama stood up.

_Oh God, he's gonna make another speech._ Yusuke and Kuwabara thought at the same time.

"You, Kuwabara-san: You like to hug and kiss Yukina-san when you get a chance, don't you?" Kuwabara's expression turned stone cold and he nodded. "You, Urameshi-san: you wish to love Keiko-san, do you not?" Yusuke also turned stone cold, nodding his head silently. "Then what's the difference if I make love to Hiei?"

"Kurama-kun…" Botan whispered.

Kurama turned his head towards Botan, "Yes, what is it, Botan-san?"

Botan moved into the middle of the room to gain everyone's attention.

"Well, it's about…Yukina-san…" Kuwabara and Hiei perked up at the name of their lover/younger sister.

Botan saw the eagerness in their eyes and had to control herself from crying. "She's been kidnapped by a group of demons who were apparently made fun of by Hiei a long time ago." Hiei gritted his teeth. "They left a ransom note, it reads as follows:" Botan pulled out a piece of black paper and began to read:

To the fire/ice youkai,

We have your younger sister. We are aware of how dear she is to you. We are also aware of many other things… Our wish is simply this: We take all of your demonic powers, and you receive your precious sister.

Sincerely,

The Youkai Brothers

Botan finished reading the last sentence to see that the whole Urameshi Team had disappeared. She smiled. "Well, there are our boys."

Hiei was already at the fortress of the Youkai Brothers. He waited impatiently for Kurama. Kurama walked up behind him, giving him a comforting hug.

"Are you ready for this? Will you be okay, alone?"

Hiei suddenly smiled. A thought had come to his mind. "I'm not going alone. You are coming with me." Kurama released Hiei from his arms, taking a step back.

"WH—what?" Kurama stuttered, shocked. Hiei turned around and smirked.

"We need just embrace each other, naked, before the two blathering idiots show up and my aura will overlap yours." Hiei was in control this time. He disappeared and reappeared next to Kurama. "Care to do it again, kitsune?" Hiei whispered in Kurama's ear.

"Hiei…" Kurama said. They began to unclothe.

Two youkais, cloaked in a dark aura, made their way stealthily through the chambers of a dark castle. One was short, a third eye darted back and forth on the middle of his forehead; his hand clenched a katana at his side. The other was tall, long silver hair cut off about half way down his back, fox ears perched upon the top of his head, and a bushy tail protruded from his lower back. A long, thorny whip was carefully held by his tense hand. The two of them hesitantly made their way through the castle until they came upon a tall, oak door with a name bolted on it, on a gold plaque: _Meeting Room_, it read.

Hiei put his hand on the doorknob slowly. A voice called out,

"Come in, Hiei of the Ice Clan, and…Kurama, Thief of the Makai." Kurama gasped a little. _How did they know I was here?_ He thought.

The fire youkai and the kitsune entered the room…

To find four apparent humans, well dressed, sitting on two white silk couches. One was tall and skinny with short, spiky, blonde hair protruding from his angular head.

The one sitting next to the blonde was small and fat. He had no hair to cover his round head. Beady black eyes darted to and fro. His mouth was curled in a very crazy and sadistic smirk.

A seven-foot, broad-chested man in a black velvet suit sat on another couch. His eyes and hair were both brown. No smile off-set the ugliness of his putrid face.

The final man was of average height and average build for a human 28-year-old. Lush purple locks of hair framed his perfect face, extending only down to his broad shoulders. A pair of gold eyes off-set the royal purple of his hair, a serene smile was permanently set upon his face.

"Good afternoon, Hiei, Youko Kurama. Please, have a seat." The purple-haired man nodded towards two blood red lounge chairs.

"Now, first things first," The same man said, the serene smile still placed on his perfect face.

Hey, Kinoma here. I am happy to have the sixth chapter up so soon. I've been working on it for a week, writing a little bit here and there.

Anyway, I bet most of you are wondering why Hiei _was_ the one who got pregnant instead of Kurama. Refer to the beginning of the chapter if you do not know what I mean. To this question: I want to see what you guys think the reason his. Post a reply with what you think it is, and… I'll give a special present to the one who guesses it right.

Another thing: could you guys please tell me: Hiei is part Ice and part Fire demon, correct? I've only seen the first series and part of the Dark Tournament series, so I do not know much about the people's past. Just what my friend tells me periodically. Please give me an answer.

Kinoma


	7. A Game for Life or Death

Author's Note: Refer to the previous chapter. ;)

The Darkness

Chapter 7: A Game for Life or Death

"If I may," the golden-eyed youkai continued, "I think that I shall start with Youko Kurama's question.

"You see, when you and Hiei gathered the same aura as Hiei so that you both could enter our palace, what you did not realize is that our sensors also detect the _amount_ of people who grace us with their presence. We also knew that, if it came down to one person Hiei would choose to Exchange Auras with, it would automatically be you, Youko Kurama." The demon laughed a little, not an evil laugh, but a playful one.

"Please, sit down. I promise you that we have not adjusted those chairs to do anything. Oh! I do not believe that we have introduced ourselves; where are our manners! I am Serenius, the Oldest. He is Tako the Bold," Serenius pointed to the large man sitting next to him. "The beady-eyed one is Chaos, and the blonde is Vino, the Wind Dragon." Kurama and Hiei perched carefully on the chairs put out for them; their bodies tensed.

"Now," the smile on the man's face was starting to get at Hiei, ripping him apart at the strings. "The offer stands: your sister for your powers. And now, since you broke the rules, we will require that Youko Kurama give us his power too." Hiei gritted his teeth, looking over at Kurama to find the youkai's eyes slanted angrily.

"And…what if we choose to fight you instead?" Chaos burst out laughing insanely. Vino smiled even more evilly. Serenius continued to smile serenely.

"I have a better idea, Youko Kurama: if you are willing to play a game, that is."

"What is the idea of this game?" Kurama asked quietly.

"If you can find a certain object in this castle in a limited amount of time, we will promise to release Yukina and not take your powers. However, if you are not able to find this object in the time given, we receive both of your full amounts of your demonic power, and we keep Yukina for our own…pleasure."

"Tell us the time limit and the object." Kurama said calmly. "We will play your game for now."

Serenius' mouth twitched ever so slightly. "Good. I'm glad to see that you still have a sense of fun, Youko Kurama." He waved his long, slender hand once in the air, causing a whirl of white smoke to swirl around. A picture appeared in the smoke. A pearl shield embroidered by a ruby dragon stared back at them."This is the item to be found. You need only search on the last six upper floors of this building. The time limit is eight hours and ten minutes. It will start as soon as you hear Yukina's scream." Hiei cringed.

"You wouldn't dare…" Hiei spattered.

Serenius' smile did not change one bit. "No, I would not, but Chaos would. Please," he motioned for them to stand up again, "be on your way now." The youkai appeared next to Kurama, whispering in his ear:

"You might _not_ want to find the item. The child your lover carries, it will be the destruction of the Ningenkai you love so much, and the rebirth of the Makai. I just thought you might like to know that tidbit of information." Suddenly, he disappeared. Then slowly everything around Hiei and Kurama dissolved back into a pitch-black corridor.

Hiei and Kurama ran.

The two prisoners made their way slowly through the upper floors of the palace. They checked each room, corridor, nook and cranny for the telltale shield.

They had made it to the sixth floor, only two more floors to go; but they only had an hour left to find the key to saving Yukina, and their powers.

"Come on, stupid fox." Hiei muttered to Kurama as he suddenly halted on their way to the next floor.

"Wait, I hear something." The fox ears on the kitsune's head perked up and moved around, searching. "I hear someone…singing." He continued, starting to subconsciously move toward the sound.

Hiei jumped over and grabbed the youkai by his arm, "Come on. It's nothing; ignore it!" Despite himself, Hiei shuddered. "I—I don't like this place. Come on, Kurama, let's find the shield and get Yukina back so that we can go home." Hiei gave a tight squeeze on Kurama's arm when Kurama did not reply.

"Come on, Kurama."

It was too late.

Kurama was completely entranced by whatever it was he was hearing. It was all Hiei could do from keeping Kurama from running away. Then Hiei stopped as he finally heard the voice too. It was a young girl's voice, high-pitched, but _so_ elegant. She was singing a song that sounded so familiar to Hiei. He _knew_ the song. His eyes glazed over, the grip on Kurama's arm lessened and his feet moved by themselves, as if they were not his own.

And the two youkais found themselves under the spell of the Water Fairy, Esmerel.

Hey, Kinoma here again. Sorry it took so long for me to finally get up the seventh chapter. A lot has happened in the past two weeks that has made my life more of a living Hell than it already had been.

Anyway, enjoy this new chapter. Hopefully, I might be able to find the disc for my scanner so that I can scan in the picture of Esmerel I drew.

I would not expect the next chapter for a while. Even though I've already started on it, I am kind of distracted right now…

Well, enjoy this one and I'll see you next chapter! Kinoma


	8. Esmerel

Author's Note: Refer to the 5th or 6th chapter, please, as I am too lazy to say what I should, as Hiei-san as so nicely pointed out to me.

Hiei: That's right, neko.

Kinoma: WTF, mate? Why you pickin' on me so much?

Hiei: (runs away)

Kinoma: (stares blankly after him) He is just jealous.

The Darkness

Chapter 8: Esmerel

The dazed youkais slowly stumbled through an open door into a beautiful, yet mysterious room. A pool of water covered most of the middle of the room, long, shiny, silver vines of some strange plant slithered its way up the walls of the room and along the floor. The water itself was a sparkling light blue, and a young girl sat in the middle of it, floating above the water.

She seemed to be made of water herself, as most of her body dripped and faded into a density of silver water. Her face was fair and pale, beautiful pale grey eyes stared at them serenely, white, feathered ears pointed out in either direction from both sides of her round head. Her body had no real figure to it; small breasts and no hips, small shoulders and short legs. A pair of blue, translucent fairy wings fluttered softly behind her back. Hiei and Kurama stared at her, dumbfounded.

They had been broken from the spell as soon as her voice stopped singing, and they now stared at the beauteous creature with awe.

"Wh-who are you?" Kurama was the first to speak.

The water fairy stared strangely at Kurama for a moment, and then responded in a mesmerizing voice.

"I am Esmerel, the Enchanter for the Youkai Brothers. Please, help me." A deep sadness suddenly sprung into her soft eyes, and the water around her rose in a torrent. The pair of youkais backed away swiftly, avoiding the heavy rain that preceded the torrent.

Kurama tried to calm her down. "We will. But please, in exchange, would you be willing to tell us something?" Hiei looked at Kurama; the kitsune was using his social skills again.

The Enchanter smiled sadly and nodded her head, Kurama smiled happily.

"Good. Would you be able to tell us where we may find a shield with a dragon encrusted upon it? We must find it in another two hours, or three lives may be at stake, least of all his and my powers will be taken away."

Esmerel smiled and clapped her hands together. "I know the place exactly, sir! It is one level above this in a hidden corridor to the right as soon as you get off the stair well. It is guarded by an evil creature, though. I fear you may not be able to beat him in the amount of time you have left." Her face liquidized a little as she cried. "Please, do not leave me alone! I have been alone in this place for so long!"

Kurama looked at her, nudging Hiei with his elbow to leave. Hiei eventually got Kurama's drift, and slipped silently out of the room, whilst Kurama continued speaking to the crying fairy.

"Please don't cry, miss. We won't leave you, I promise. We will help you escape from here. My friend goes to defeat the creature that is guarding the shield, so that we may regain his sister and keep our demonic powers. You will be free of this prison soon enough." Kurama tried a winning smile; it seemed to cheer Esmerel up slightly; she stopped crying for the moment.

"This girl you speak of, sir, does she perhaps have light blue hair and blue eyes?" Kurama's eyes bulged in surprise; he nodded dumbly.

"I have seen her! They dragged her off to a room on this floor quite some time ago. She looked so sad, lifeless as a dead twig." Esmerel looked sadly down at her watery hands.

"Would you please tell me which room she is in! We need to rescue her and get out of this evil place." Kurama stopped short as Esmerel burst into tears again.

"I…don't…know where she is! Don't…leave…me alone…please! I don't…want to…be alone again!" she wallowed.

"Shh shh…" Kurama hushed, looking around to make sure none of the Youkai Brothers was near. He did not sense any demonic aura. But it was too quiet in this place to know if any of them was there.

Hiei came back carrying the shield. "That was easy enough. Can we go find Yukina now?" Hiei grunted.

Kurama looked around for something to carry the fairy in. He found a small bucket. He picked it up and looked at Esmerel.

"Would you be able to fit inside this bucket, Esmerel? If you do not wish to be left alone you will have to come with us until we find Yukina-san and get back to Reikai." The Enchanter smiled sadly and floated silently over to where Kurama held the bucket.

"I will come." She said simply before disappearing into a large puddle of water inside of the bucket.

"Right," Kurama said, his fox ears twitching again. "Let's go, Hiei. We need to find Yukina-san before they do something to her."

Hey! I am so sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. Life has been Hell recently, and the next two weeks will be repeated Hell, what with finals and last minute projects. I might not be able to get the next chapter up in awhile, so please be patient! But I will try my hardest!

Thank you, and see you next chapter, Kinoma


	9. Rewards

Author's Note/Disclaimer:

Kinoma: Ah, the 9th chapter and feeling good. (Basks in her own glory)

Yukina: Ano, Kinoma-san? Why do I have to be kidnapped?

Kinoma: It's all for the readers, doll. Don't worry, though, your brother and his guy rescue you.

Yukina: Oh, good…

(Yes, unfortunately, Yukina is rescued)

Chapter 9: Rewards

The voice of Esmerel carried through the bucket of water Kurama was lugging around with them.

"Your sister should be on the last floor, Hiei."

Hiei stared at the bucket whilst he and Kurama traveled up the stairs to the final floor of the castle.

"Yes, I get that, but do you know what room?" Hiei asked in a gruff voice.

Soft sobs came from Esmerel.

"No, I'm sorry… I do not know where she is exactly."

"Great. Thirty minutes to find her before the scum get their filthy paws on her." Hiei mumbled to himself angrily, checking a room to the right of him on their way down the hall of the last floor.

Suddenly Kurama stopped short, looking through the doorway of one room. He put Esmerel down and walked towards the stone entranceway. A limp body hung from four tight ropes hanging down from the ceiling. One was attached to each of her limbs. Long, light blue hair hung limp from her head, covering her face.

Kurama shouted and called Hiei to him. "Hiei! I found her!" Hiei was their in a split second. He quickly cut the bonds that held his younger sister to the ceiling, letting her fall into Kurama's waiting arms.

Hiei walked up to Yukina's limp form, concern showing on his face. "Is—is she okay?" He asked quietly.

Kurama nodded, happy to see the love in Hiei's eyes. "Come on, Hiei; let's go back to the palace." He turned around to go back through the stonework, but a huge gust of wind sliced the air directly in front of him, cutting a few locks of hair from Yukina's head, and slicing Kurama's hands.

Vino the Wind Dragon appeared before them, smiling wickedly.

"I am afraid that I cannot allow you to take our prisoner. You see: we need her for something other than just getting back at Hiei."

At the sight of his injured friend, and the locks of hair on the ground from his only sister, Hiei went berserk. He stepped in front of Kurama and growled angrily.

"This is my battle, fox, stay out of it!" He yelled and made a leaping jump at Vino. Vino casually dodged it and started throwing large gusts of wind at Hiei, which Hiei easily dodged.

The battle seemed to go on forever. Both sides were too evenly matched to gain any leverage on the other. Hiei was as swift, or swifter than Vino's wind gusts, and Hiei found it difficult to attack the Wind expert as there was a defensive barrier swirling around the youkai.

Outside of the castle, on ground level, the other two members of the Urameshi team fought bravely against the towering rage of the big youkai, and the crazy, spasmodic behavior of Chaos.

The two Spirit Detectives were having a hard time with it that was for sure.

Kurama knew that Hiei could not win this battle without some help from himself, so when he found a chance to attack his foe, he took it.

Vino had his back to Kurama as he blocked yet another thrust from Hiei's katana. Kurama quickly produced a rose whip and sliced his opponent across the back, causing Vino to fall in a bloody heap, temporarily stunned by the ferocity of the attack.

"I thought I told you to stay out of my fight, stupid fox!" Hiei screamed angrily.

Kurama yelled back with the same vigor. "You would never half been able to defeat him without some sort of help, Hiei! You two were too evenly matched! Finish him off before he regains his consciousness!" Hiei calmed down and nodded in confirmation. Kurama turned around and walked out of the room, carrying Yukina in his arms and trying to not look back at the heaping pile of bloody carcass on the floor.

Hiei came back to Kurama's side and tried to take Yukina from Kurama. Kurama, however, would not let him.

"I'll take her, Hiei; you carry Esmerel." Kurama gave a winning smile to his friend which seemed to calm Hiei's nerves. The fire youkai picked up the bucket with Esmerel in it and started walking off down the passage.

"Come on fox, we need to go home." Hiei said and made his way down the first flight of stairs. Kurama smiled knowingly and followed after the small fire youkai.

The two youkais stepped out of the gates on ground level, each carrying their separate burden. They saw Yusuke and Kuwabara fighting and set their burdens down carefully.

Yusuke had seen his two friends exit the building as a small relaxation period happened between blows from Tako. He called out to them.

"Hey! Where you guys been?" Hiei and Kurama turned towards him and Kurama replied.

"Saving her, of course," Kurama pointed to the limp body of Yukina. "Looks like you guys have been busy. What time did you get here?"

Yusuke replied after having knocked Tako to the ground. "About an hour ago, I would say. I had to run back home to get my fighting gear. Would you guys mind helping us out? We are kind of overpowered here." Kurama and Hiei nodded and immediately split up; Kurama joining Yusuke and Hiei joining Kuwabara.

Even with the combined effort of the foursome, the two Youkai Brothers were too strong.

Kurama muttered under his breath to Yusuke a plan of escape. "They're too strong for us right now. We need to go back to the palace and recuperate." Yusuke nodded his approval and the two of them passed it on to the other two.

They all eventually started backing up towards the portal to Reikai until they were close enough to travel through.

Kurama and Hiei went through first, Kuwabara and Yusuke bringing up the rear.

Back at the palace Yusuke and Kuwabara left to go put Yukina in a bed, and to put Esmerel in the lake, leaving Kurama and Hiei alone together.

Kurama transformed back into his human form, completely worn out from such a long transformation. Hiei sat down in a chair and looked at the ground. He muttered something that Kurama could not hear.

"What was that, Hiei?" Kurama asked.

"Th-thank you, fox." Hiei said a little louder. "Thank you for helping me. I—I appreciate it…" Kurama smiled.

"No problem, what are friends for, eh?" He said, sitting down next to Hiei.

Hiei stood up. He walked over to Kurama and took the kitsune's hands in his own. With a rough gentleness, he placed them on his pregnant belly.

"Do you feel his life energy, stupid fox?" Hiei asked offhandedly.

Kurama looked up curiously at Hiei. What was his friend trying to say?

"Yes…why?" Kurama asked.

Hiei smiled slightly. "Do—do you remember when you made that promise to me? The one about how you would take the child away from me after it was born?" Kurama nodded his head, dumb-founded. "Well, he—he's just as much my child as he is yours, so I—I thought it would be nice if—if we took care of him…together…" Hiei's face turned red. Kurama stared blankly at Hiei, shocked.

He finally found his voice and said soothingly. "I would love that, Hiei." Kurama reached up for Hiei's head and pulled it closer to his own, enveloping Hiei's lips in a warm kiss.

Hiei kissed back, shoving his tongue into Kurama's mouth. The two of them sat there, kissing one another until they fell ungracefully on to the floor, Kurama getting ready to be on top, but Hiei pushed him to the floor.

"Uh-huh. No, fox, I'm taking my role as the male of this relationship now." He leaned over his large belly to kiss Kurama once again.

Kurama kissed him back, holding back a smile as he thought. _You're not exactly a male right now, though, are you, Hiei? _He giggled to himself.

Hiei had almost gotten the shirt off of Hiei's back when a knock sounded on the door. The two youkais separated from each other, Kurama pulling his shirt back on.

"Come in." He called.

Yukina peered around the door, shuffling into the darkened room.

She bowed and spoke in a shy voice, "I—I wanted to thank you, Kurama-san and Onnisan, for rescuing me from the Youkai Brothers." She bowed once again and Kurama smiled.

"No problem, Yukina-san. You are lucky to have such a loving brother." Hiei growled in mild anger at this statement, causing Yukina to chuckle softly.

She spoke once again, this time in a more calm voice. "I was also asked by Koenma-sama to tell you that the Urameshi team is supposed to meet down on the training grounds." She bowed one more time and left.

After she had gone, Kurama walked up again to Hiei. He leaned down and kissed Hiei on the forehead gently.

"I look forward to raising our child with you, Hiei." And he led his lover out of the room by the hand, which was quickly withdrawn when an ogre passed by them.

Phew! (Wipes her brow) You should all love me very much. Yep yep! Since school is out, I have been pretty free and feeling good. I no longer have to deal with the people who were causing me problems and can spend time alone in my room.

Well, anyway, I was not really doing anything yesterday, and really wanted to get some action going on between our two famous youkais, so I started coming up with ideas for this chapter and the tenth one. I will hopefully get to write up the tenth one tomorrow and will get it up. If not, expect it some time this week.

Thank you for everything and see you next chapter. Kinoma


	10. One Fight, One Child

Author's Note/Disclaimer: Kurama: Yay! The torture is almost over!

Kinoma: Hmmm? What are you talking about, Bishie?

Kurama: The story is almost over. Hiei and I need no longer suffer your strange fantasies.

Kinoma: Hey! My fantasies are NOT strange! They are vivid and imaginative.

Kurama: Sure…whatever you say…

Chapter 10: One Fight, One Child

Kurama and Hiei made their way quickly to the meeting spot. Yusuke and Kazuma were already there, along with Koenma.

"What is our new mission, Koenma-sama?" Kurama asked of Koenma in a casual voice. Koenma looked daggers at him.

"It seems Hiei's 'friends' did not like your escapade from their castle, and are trying to get in through the North Gate. Your guys' _mission_ is to go hold them off and defeat them so they do not destroy Reikai." Koenma turned at Hiei with an almost concerned look on his face.

"Hiei," Koenma said, "I know it will piss you off, but I would rather you did not fight in this battle." Hiei shook his head and responded in a haughty voice:

"No, I will fight. This is more my battle than any of yours." The fire youkai disappeared, heading to the North Gate.

Koenma shook his head in sadness. "I wish sometimes that he would just _listen_ to me. Oh well. You guys are dismissed; go kick some demon butt." Koenma stocked off back to the palace, leaving the rest of the Urameshi team to make their way to the Gate.

They found the two Demons at the entrance to the North Gate, a team of ogres and other servants were trying to hold the two of them off without much success.

When the two opposing demons had seen Hiei and the others, they simply made their way through the thicket of ogres to where the Urameshi team stood.

It was Tako who spoke in a deep, rumbling voice. "You are to die, Hiei and Kurama." He pointed his big axe to the two of them and started to come at them like a big boulder. Chaos turned to Kazuma and Yusuke, smirking evilly and with his eyes darting to and fro. The two groups of fighters took their fighting stances opposing each other. This was going to be a long fight.

Hiei and Kurama were doing pretty well against the brute strength of their opponent, Tako the Bold. The both of them were much too fast for the oversized youkai, and the kitsune and the fire youkai quickly made multiple cuts and deep gashes upon the body of their adversary. But still, Tako went strong, and caused many deep wounds on the two youkai.

Yusuke and Kazuma were a little worse for ware. The chaotic attacks of Chaos proved to be too much for the Ningenkai fighters. Yusuke had to shoot off multiple rei guns until one finally found its mark through one of Chaos' arms. And Kazuma managed to get Chaos' back with a quick sweep of his Rei Blade, but the fight was pretty evenly matched, as Chaos drowned Yusuke and Kazuma in balls of their own fear, and shot strange bolts of dark lightning at them.

Suddenly, Hiei collapsed. He was breathing heavily and blinking rapidly. Kurama rushed over to him, after having knocked Tako on his back.

"Hiei! Hiei! Wake up, come on Hiei!" The kitsune put his hand on Hiei's stomach, and is eyes widened. "Oh God! He's about to have his child! Quick!" He waved over one of the ogres who were nearby and had them carry Hiei off on a stretcher.

Kurama stared after Hiei, a look of longing on his face. But his foe would not wait for him to regain himself, so the youkai thief turned back to face his adversary and whipped his rose whip angrily.

"I think it's time to get serious, Tako…" The kitsune soon transformed himself into his fox demon form and shot a rose at Tako. "It is time for you to die…"

And die the large demon did. In a few wild slashes and one killing attack from Youko Kurama's Rose Whip, Tako finally breathed his last breath and lay, torn to pieces on the ground.

Youko Kurama turned to Chaos and the two ningen warriors. "Two down, two more to go." He said and leapt at Chaos, swinging his lethal whip to and fro.

Hiei opened his eyes in a sort of panic. He saw the far-off ceilings of the Reikai palace above him and a fleeting thought told him we was inside again. He made to move his body, but felt limp, and he could feel a pain start to surface near his lower abdominal.

He breathed heavily and his eyes closed, sending him off into a stressed sleep.

Chaos was almost down. The strength of the three Spirit Detectives was soon becoming too much for him to handle by himself. He cried out in pain as Kurama's whips hit him in the back with the force of a stampeding elephant.

"No time…" Chaos uttered, trying to catch his breath. "I…must…use it…" He took one deep breath and concentrated on one portion of the battle arena. A black vortex started forming there, slowly, so slowly.

Chaos fended off the attacks of his foes as he focused all of his remaining energy on the black hole forming in the middle of the ground.

Yusuke started to feel a tug from behind him at his body. Something or someone was pulling him back from his opponent. He turned around and saw a strange sight: the ground was turning pitch black, and the gray of the cement underfoot was soon being enveloped by this pitch black darkness. Yusuke's eyes widened in surprise and he called to his allies:

"Hey! Whatever you do, do not go back!" His allies, confused, looked behind them and saw the vortex, their eyes widening in shock also. They pressed on against the persistent tugging at their bodies and continued their ferocious attack on their opponent.

Chaos fell.

Hey! Sorry this took a little longer than I planned. I have been pretty busy with multiple things and have not had the time to finish this chapter. But here it is: enjoy it.

And by the way, thanks to everyone who has reviewed or continued to review; your support is much appreciated.

And for those of you who find this fan fiction disturbing, or dull, or boring: too bad for you. Thank you, come again. Bleh!

I will see you guys next chapter; and remember: it is almost over! Kinoma


	11. The Demon Child

The Darkness

Chapter 11: Farewell Serenius

As the last of the Youkai Brothers fell in pools of their own black blood, and the three members of the Urameshi Team rested their torn-up bodies, hoping against hope that their battle was over, a sudden bright flash of silver-white light and the quick sound of a rocket bleared from above them.

Breathing heavily, Yusuke tilted his head with great effort up towards the sky.

There, heavily robed in silver-gray, his long, flowing silver hair blowing in the artificial wind, was Serenius. His eyes were closed in humor and his mouth still held that unwavering serene smile that always seemed to tip Hiei over the edge.

His voice reverbrated through the throbbing head of the three warriors as he spoke:

"I see my four brothers were naught but fledglings compared to you three. I am…disappointed in them. But please, where is Hiei, the Fire Youkai?" Serenius's face turned each way, scanning the battlefield.

Kurama was the one to reply first:

"What is it to you, scum?"

Serenius's smile faded a little. "You let him enter labor, did you not, Kurama!"

Kurama nodded, a look of confusion on his face.

Serenius almost looked angry; his eyes were opened and narrowed and the usual smile flickered. "Why did you allow this! Did you not heed my warning!"

Kurama was now angry himself and was near to shouting.

"How am I to trust someone who wishes to kill my friends!"

Serenius seemed downcast, but his disgusting smile replaced his previously angered expression.

"I leave you now. Kurama, I will visit you against in fifteen years, and we will see if you are still indifferent to my calling after your son has killed so many humans. Good bye." And in another bright flash of silver-white light, the form that was Serenius had disappeared.

Yusuke, heaving heavily, spoke, putting a bloodied arm on Kurama's:

"Let's go see how Hiei's doing…Kurama." Kurama nodded numbly, and allowed himself to be led towards the palace.

Hiei was in pain; a deep, tearing pain that made him feel nauseated, and tore at his lower abdominals like a monster eagerly escaping a cage, and his screeches reverbrated off the stone walls of his barren room. The helper oni were rushing to and for with blankets and other objects for making sure the birth of the child was quick and easy.

And finally, at long last, the child shoved its way through Hiei's new found genitals and into the world, the only oni with doctor practice helping it out. Hiei was panting and screaming at the same time, but it was over within a few minutes.

"Here, Hiei sir, it is a boy; it's a baby boy." The doctor oni exclaimed, putting the bundle of blankets and baby into Hiei's arms.

Hiei stared down at the little thing…and it stared up at him. Dark red eyes that glowed like a burning fire burned into Hiei's own red eyes. The small tuft of hair on its head was a light red and strange demon-markings surrounded its whole body.

This was his child.

Kurama rushed down the halls to where an oni had told him Hiei was. He swung around a corner and entered the little room, seeing a small form in the hands of his lover.

"Hiei…" Kurama said, exasperated from his jog.

Hiei looked up, and nodded Kurama over to where he lay, the baby in his arms. Kurama walked over and picked up the child out of Hiei's hands, and looked down at his offspring.

"He has your eyes, Hiei." Kurama said, smiling. Hiei growled, but said nothing.

After a few more minutes, a oni came in and took the child from the two of them, explaining that it would be taken care of for awhile to make sure it was completely healthy. Kurama and Hiei watched the small oni carry the child away, then Kurama pulled some chairs closer to Hiei's bed and made himself a bed.

"Well, you should get some sleep, Hiei." Kurama said, making Hiei lay down from his sitting position. "Good night, Hiei." And the two of them went to sleep.

The child was raised mainly by Hiei in the depths of the Makai, because Kurama figured trying to hide the child's strange markings and ears would be too much trouble in the Human world. So the child was taught how to fight, and survive on its own by a child who had done the same.

Every other month or so, Kurama took the child and spoiled it.

And so the "family" lived in harmony for fourteen years, and then everything started falling apart. Their child was, after all, a demon.

The end

Hey everyone, Kinoma here. Sorry this took so long to get up. But I finally got it up.

Wow... (is teary-eyed) My first fanfiction that has been completed, amazing, is it not?

Well, I hope you enjoy the last chapter of this saga, and fear not! There will be a sequel!

All right, this is Kinoma signing out!


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